with Joseph Bismark

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Monthly Archives: November 2008

As the famous saying goes, “ideas are a dime-a-dozen, but the men and women who implement them are priceless”.

The world is full of people with great ideas motivated with the best of intentions and yet the majority of them never seem to perform. Such people will invariably make poor leaders.

NOTHING GREAT CAN EVER BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT FOLLOWING UP!

What makes a good follow-up?

1. Listen
We must learn to listen. We need to have the patience to hear every detailed concern about challenges that our peers, staff, managers, customers and leaders face in the field. By listening, we can genuinely appreciate what others are going through and become motivated to do something about the problem.

2. Involve others to help formulate the solution
There are many perspectives in life and we all need to hear different ideas or solutions on how we can get things done. After hearing all sides, we can decide what course of action is best to take.

3. Follow-up and follow through
This is only possible if you know where you’re going! It is only possible if you have a goal and you have shared that same goal to the people in your team.

Build a program in your department where you make it a point to hear opinions, comments, or suggestions from your team. Such feedback processes should be programmed into our business culture. This will help us to listen carefully to what people have to say about us.

What is more important is that we gain an indication of an action plan in response to what we have heard. Feedback and following up like this allows us to:

1. Analyse and implement a possible solution
2. Test the solution with selected target groups
3. Take results back to the team
4. Enlist the full support of everyone on the team
5. Implement effective changes

Please take a moment to ponder… if we learn to follow-up and to follow-through properly, then we can all make the necessary changes to improve our company.

The human population has come to an understanding and consensus about the existence of this elusive factor called ‘Time’. But what is amazing is just how little importance each of us actually places on managing whatever ‘Time’ we have available to us.

‘Time’ ticks on tirelessly and is always progressing relentlessly, representing our past, our present and our future all combined. Drastic changes to our world have taken place, and events have come and gone brought about by ‘Time’. Growth, maintenance and inevitable old age and death will come as our ‘Time’ in this world passes by and ends. ‘Time’ will continue on long after we have passed away.

We have made machines that we call watches to somehow keep track of, and mark the passing of, ‘Time’. We all know that ‘Time’ consists of the past, present and future; will continue to tick by; and has no mercy or regard for anyone, even a dying man.

So what are we doing about it?

Most of us try to bury ourselves with the shallow business of life so that we don’t have to stop and face the facts about our ‘Time’ until it hits us right in the face. In the case of a person finding out that he has cancer and has only six months to live, this person’s perspective on life will drastically change once knowing that he has only a small amount of allotted ‘Time’ left to live. His priorities will change and he will value every minute of that ‘Time’ in a very different manner than the rest of us who may take our ‘Time’ for granted. Spending this ‘Time’ uselessly will no longer be a luxury available to him. Do we have to wait for such an emergency notice before we start valuing and managing our time? Do you have a contract on how long you can stay on in this world?

Not everyone is so lucky to find out how much time they have left. For most people, there is no warning when time ceases to be available to them. It comes in one big bang and as one big shock.

“Wait, I am not ready! I still have a lot to prepare for! I have to tell my wife and kids that I love them! Oh wait, what will happen to my bank accounts? Who will take care of my family? Can I have more time?” This is the cry of the dying man.

Nobody likes to talk about this absolute end to our reality. We do not want to face it until it comes to face us at the very end. But is this the right way to deal with ‘Time’? Should we not be prepared to face it when our ‘Time’ ends? Should we not be ready, so that we won’t be sorry? Should we not use our ‘Time’ wisely, so we can help others and make a difference in the world?

Let us use our ‘Time’ to make the world a better place for future generations to live in. We should stop thinking that we will be here forever, so we can focus on the important facets of our lives:

For my Gems of Wisdom today I thought I’d share with you all some advice from the world richest man according to Forbes – Warren Buffet.

THE LIFE OF THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD

Here are some very interesting facts about the life of Warren Buffet (former second richest man who once donated $31 billion to charity), during a one-hour interview of him by CNBC (excerpts edited for clarity):

1. He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late 2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers. 3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence. 4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him 5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world’s largest private jet company. 6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO’s only two rules:

Rule number 1: Do not lose any of your shareholder’s money. Rule number 2: Do not forget Rule number 1.

7. He does not socialise with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch television. 8. Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet. 9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk. His advice to young people: “Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself”, and remember:

A. Money doesn’t create man but it is man who created money. B. Live your life as simple as you are. C. Don’t do what others say, just listen to them, but do what you feel is good. D. Don’t go for brand names; just wear those things in which you feel is comfortable. E. Don’t waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on what you really need. F. After all, it is your life, then why give others the chance to rule your life?”

Take a moment to ponder if you can also benefit from the insight of someone who has already achieved!

Every now and then in life comes a time when we need to sit back and take stock, review where we are, how we got here and why we are here. I would like all of us to revisit our corporate credo and mission statement, so that we can assess and determine if we are still relevant as a corporate entity.

If we are not, I would like to hear from each and every one of you about how we may need to remodel our mission in order to remain relevant to the ever-changing world around us.

After all, we would not want to get left behind!

As QuestNet reaches the grand old age of ten this year, there is no better time to self-reflect on the journey. Remember that one of the central credos of QuestNet is RYTHM – Raise Yourself To Help Mankind… is this still relevant today? Or perhaps even more so given the current global climate?

QuestNet’s vision, mission and core values are defined as (how long has it been since you visited this page on our website?):

Vision

To be the No. 1 global e-marketing company by providing opportunities, creating success, and touching a billion hearts

Mission

To inspire people to help others through RYTHM (Raise Yourself To Help Mankind)

Core Values

– Truth – Service – Courage

I would like you to ALL take a moment and ponder… Why should we be proud to work for QuestNet? What areas of our business do we need to revisit, modify or change entirely? Please send me your replies directly.

Please let me know your thoughts, I am waiting for your responses and will be creating a future Gems of Wisdom from them.